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Too many cameras? Parents caught Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner having a tense conversation after dropping their kids off at school. What could the ex-partners talk about?
Page Six posted the photos of Ben holding a coffee mug and Jen Garner putting on a pink hat while they have a serious chat. (View the photos here.) The photos come a week after a viral video of Ben slamming a door with his now-wife Jennifer Lopez. In footage obtained by PageSix (see the video here), Affleck opens the car door for Lopez after a coffee break, only to seemingly slam it again after she gets in. “Oh shit! “This is Ben Affleck visibly irritated as he slams the door on Jennifer Lopez,” one person tweeted. Other wrote: “One can ‘have everything’ and still be unhappy.” Others observed: “He looks away from her on purpose while she gets in the car. They’re definitely fighting lol.” Others had a different perspective. “It could all have been a ruse for the cameras. If not, a bad day doesn’t mean they have a bad life,” she tweeted onewhile many commented that he looked annoyed with the person filming him.
About a blended family
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Things seem to be going well with the blended family. The On the Floor artist opened up about the life of her Affleck-Lopez and how her husband’s ex-wife relates to their “patchwork family” in her December 2022 Vogue cover story. When asked about the family dynamic, she lauded the Alias star for being “a great co-parent” and for making them really “worked well together.” The “Marry Me” star went on to explain that bringing a family together is hard work. “You have so many feelings. “They’re teenagers,” she said. “But so far it’s going really well. What I want to cultivate with our family is that his children have a new ally in me and my children have a new ally in him, someone who genuinely loves and cares for them but has a different perspective and helps me able to see things that I can see “I don’t see it with my kids because I’m so emotionally attached.”
Why Ben Divorced Jen Garner
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Speaking about their divorce, Ben told Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show that he and Garner “would have been at each other’s throats” if they hadn’t ended their relationship. He also believed that if their marriage continued, he “would probably still be drinking.” “That was one of the reasons I started drinking alcohol, I was trapped,” he said. “I thought, ‘I can’t go because of my kids, but I’m not happy.’ What can I do?’ So I drank a bottle of Scotch on the couch, but that didn’t prove to be a solution.”
After much controversy, Ben clarified his statement two years later in a March 2023 profile in . He told the outlet that his now-wife, Jennifer Lopez, helped him with the profile interview to avoid any problems. “In fact, she gave me a lecture this morning before this interview. She thinks I’ve become very reserved because of the experiences I’ve had. And she’s right. I see these things as landmines and if you say something wrong your career could be over. I had a really painful experience interviewing where I was really vulnerable and all the fuss was not just something that wasn’t right, it was actually the opposite of what I meant.”
He went into details of the Howard Stern interview and how the media distorted the narrative. “The idea that I blame my wife for my drinking. To be clear: I alone am responsible for my behavior. The point I wanted to make was sad. Everyone who’s been through a divorce asks themselves, “How much are we trying?” We loved each other. We care about each other. We respect each other. I wanted to say, “Hey look, I’ve been drinking too much, and the less happy you become, be it your job, your marriage, the harder your life becomes when you’re doing things that fulfill you.” When you’re a hole If you have something that isn’t healthy, you’re going to start doing more of it.” I think I was pretty eloquent there.”
Ben on media characterization
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He continued, “It was the New York Post that intentionally mischaracterized it to make it clickbait, and everyone else then picked it up, and it didn’t matter how many times I said, ‘I don’t feel that way. “I’m telling you, I don’t blame my ex-wife for my alcoholism.” So, yeah. It is difficult. But whatever, like that [Jennifer Lopez] tell me today: “Relax, be yourself.” Have fun. “You’re actually a funny guy who’s real and genuine and you just seem so serious.” Am I serious? But like many things, she’s really right. And she loves me. She takes care of me. She’s trying to help me. So it’s like I should fucking listen to her.”
When it came time to end their relationship, Affleck confirmed that he and Garner “made it amicable,” though he did confirm that he and his ex-wife have experienced “moments of tension” since their split. “Did we have moments of tension? Have there been disagreements over custody? Was it difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes,” he said. “But basically it was always underpinned with respect. I knew she was a good mother. I hope she knew I’m a good father. I was. I needed to sober up, I knew that too and I acknowledged that. I said, ‘You’re right. I need to stop drinking.’”
Image: Getty Images